


In December

by emanthony



Series: In a Year [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 07:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4778369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emanthony/pseuds/emanthony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Murasakibara Atsushi comes out to his friends. </p><p>They're annoying about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In December

"So, I'm gay," Murasakibara said. His voice was an unconcerned drawl as he worked open a warmed bottle of milk tea, "I'm coming out."

 

 

Everyone, the whole group, went still. The cold December air froze among them and for a long moment, nothing on planet Earth moved at all. They had been walking to dinner. They had been arguing about what to _get_ for dinner. They were now statuettes, staring in shock.

 

 

 

Murasakibara didn't bother to meet their wide-eyed looks, and instead lifted his drink and slurped, a fog filling the air around his face. His purple hair, quite long, fell into his face despite the high ponytail.

 

 

 

"What?" Kise asked.

 

 

 

"Is this a joke?" Midorima asked.

 

 

 

"Why did you bring that up out of the blue like that?" Kagami asked.

 

 

 

"Seriously?" Aomine asked.

 

 

 

Before Murasakibara could address the sudden deluge of questions, Kuroko asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

 

 

 

Murasakibara looked down at him and nodded once, shortly. 

 

 

 

"It's cold," Momoi chirped. "Let's go talk inside somewhere."

 

 

 

"Yes," Akashi agreed, "This might take some time."

 

 

 

In a massive herd of overgrown young men (and beautiful Momoi, pink hair thick and short, a stand-out among the boys), they moved. Tense and mostly quiet, save for the slurping of Murasakibara's drink. Akashi led the way, as he typically did, and they arrived at a Japanese-style bar, an izakaya. 

 

 

 

"Please give me a moment to prepare a space," the hostess said, taking off to the back.

 

 

 

It had been two years now that the tradition of meeting for dinner and drinks had taken root. The group, consisting of the Generation of Miracles -- Akashi, Murasakibara, Kise, Aomine, Midorima, Momoi, and Kuroko -- and their best friend, Kagami, would gather around the beginning of December to hang out face-to-face. The group was active in e-mail, text messages, and even on Twitter, but it wasn't often they got to gather like this in-person. Not since graduating high school.

 

 

 

They were all twenty now, full-fledged adults (at least, that's what they'd been telling themselves), with full-fledged lives. 

 

 

 

Apparently Murasakibara's life had taken an unexpected twist.

 

 

 

"Right this way, please," the hostess greeted, guiding them towards the back. "Are you athletes?" She asked, motioning to the seats for the group to sit. 

 

 

 

"Yes," Kuroko answered. The hostess jumped, turning to see the ever-so-quiet, ever-so-subtly handsome Kuroko at her side.

 

 

 

"O-oh. I thought so," she said.

 

 

 

"Basketball," Kagami expanded. It was a little more complicated than that, in reality; Kise and Midorima no longer played outside of casual one-off games, and Aomine had gone pro. The rest played college ball; Kuroko and Kagami were even on the same team. Momoi was assistant to their team, too, attending the same school. (None of that had been a coincidence, but rather several years of careful, calculated planning.) Akashi was, as ever, a rival, and Murasakibara was much the same.

 

 

 

"That makes sense," she giggled. "You're all so tall."

 

 

 

Akashi took his seat and shot her a look that could be read a great number of ways -- he wasn't, after all, very tall -- but it had the desired effect, and the hostess left them alone. An awkward silence filled the space once everyone was finally seated.

 

 

 

"I'm hungry," Murasakibara finally said, patting his stomach over two layers of sweaters.

 

 

 

"Don't just start with 'I'm hungry,' you moron!" Aomine complained, "What exactly did you say out there at the train station?"

 

 

 

Kise leaned in and whispered, as if to keep other patrons from hearing, "You're gay?"

 

 

 

"Kichin, you don't need to whisper it. I told you, I'm out."

 

 

 

"Out?" Midorima said, leaning in, too. He reached up to push his glasses back, round wooden specs that fit his currently pushed-back hairstyle.

 

 

 

"I'm gay. It's not a secret," Murasakibara said. 

 

 

 

"I had no idea," Kagami said, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck anxiously, fingers brushing where his dark red buzzcut began.

 

 

 

"I don't think any of us knew," Kise said, propping his head up on his hand. His hair was long now, too, like Murasakibara, and rested loosely on his shoulders.

 

 

 

"I had an impression that this might be the case," Kuroko interjected. Everyone turned to take a look at him and he blinked, before turning to Mukkun with clear eyes. "During our senior year in high school, when we had a game in Akita, you mentioned an interesting person. You looked up into the bleachers at a boy."

 

 

 

"Perceptive," Kise said, grinning. And then his smile fell, slowly. "But wait, then -- how long have you known?"

 

 

 

"Eh... Forever, I guess," Murasakibara said, slouching in his seat and lifting a menu. 

 

 

 

"But you didn't tell us until now," Midorima said. 

 

 

 

"Why not?" Momoi interjected. "Mukkun, it would have been okay."

 

 

 

Murasakibara slowly lowered his menu, frowning. "I didn't care if you knew. You're all annoying. Stop talking about it."

 

 

 

"You wish. You brought it up," Aomine said. He slapped the menu out of Murasakibara's hands, and glared at him. "It's no wonder everyone's bugging you about it."

 

 

 

"Hello!" A new voice, chipper and high pitched, cut in. "Can I take your drink order?" The entire group looked up from where they sat to the waitress holding a tray of small food dishes -- sliced squid, cucumber, mushrooms, the whole gamut. She started placing them down as the group called out their drinks. "Alright --"

 

 

 

"We are interested in your all-you-can-eat special, too, please," Akashi said, running a hand atop his freshly trimmed -- primped for this occasion -- short hair. 

 

 

 

"Oh, sure." The waitress glanced over each person, counting their number, and nodded. "An hour?"

 

 

 

Akashi looked over the group and was met with faces ranging from tense to confused to dying of starvation and said, "Two, please."

 

 

 

When the waitress had gone, Aomine was holding up the dish of squid out of Murasakibara's reach. "If you talk, I'll give you the squid."

 

 

 

"I'll fucking crush you, Minechin," Mukkun said, eyes growing dark.

 

 

 

"You said you have a boyfriend," Kuroko said. "Who is he?"

 

 

 

"Sebastian Martin," Murasakibara said, pointedly staring at the dish of food being withheld. Aomine lowered the bowl into his hands, eyes narrowed. 

 

 

 

"Se...bas... Is that English?" Momoi asked.

 

 

 

"He's American," Murasakibara answered before eating the entire dish of squid in one go. 

 

 

 

Kagami tilted his head, brows furrowed. "Sebastian Martin. Isn't that Tatsuya's study abroad friend?"

 

 

 

"Yeah," Mukkun said, "He introduced us last summer."

 

 

 

"Eh, small world!" Kise said. "What's he like?"

 

 

 

Murisakibara shot Kise a withering stare, refusing to answer. 

 

 

 

"His Twitter is here," Akashi said, holding his phone. Mukkun jolted, face falling. "Sebastian Martin, Twitter handle Patriot994, friends with Himuro, who is friends with me. There's even a photo of Atsushi on here. They went hiking in October."

 

 

 

"No way!"

 

 

 

"Let me see."

 

 

 

"Oh, he's blond!"

 

 

 

"He's even more fair than you, Kichan," Momoi said, voice a giggle.

 

 

 

"No way!" Kise shoved over, and the entire table -- barring Murasakibara -- were crowded behind Akashi to look at his phone. The image reflected back up to them was of Sebastian's profile photo. He was quite fair, with lily white skin, and large dark eyes that were squinted into a broad, perfect smile. He was at a shrine, judging from the blurred background. He looked like any college exchange student, really, except that --

 

 

 

"He's gorgeous," Momoi said, blinking repeatedly as if to clear her eyes. 

 

 

 

"He's okay," Kise said, pouting. "Is he a model?"

 

 

 

"A lot of Americans just look like that," Kagami grumbled, going a little red in the face.

 

 

 

"You're all annoying," Murasakibara mumbled, sinking lower into his seat.

 

 

 

Midorima cleared his throat, taking his seat again. "You said you didn't care if we knew. Why do you care now?"

 

 

 

"Sebastian says it's important. Coming out is important. Something about culture..." Murasakibara's mouth twisted, like he wasn't sure he believed it. "It made him sad that I didn't talk about it. He was annoying."

 

 

 

"I'm glad you shared it," Momoi said. She reached across the table and placed her hands atop Mukkun's, and squeezed. "I'm happy you did."

 

 

 

"Eh," Murasakibara grunted, seemingly unmoved by her welling eyes. He looked away, though, with the faintest of color beneath his eyes.

 

 

 

"Here are your drinks!" The waitress chirped, arriving beside the table. She set down the various glasses. "I'll be right back with your first dish," she promised.

 

 

 

Silence finally fell among the table, the important questions having been satisfied. Aomine shifted in his seat next to Mukkun and looked over to Kuroko. "I'm surprised, actually."

 

 

 

"Eh, by what?" Kise asked.

 

 

 

"I thought Tetsu would be the gay one, if I had to pick."

 

 

 

Kuroko's face immediately welled with color.

 

 

 

"What? Kuroko?" Kise said.

 

 

 

"Why would you think that?" Midorima asked, the question clearly tinged with _'you idiot.'_  


 

 

 

Aomine exhaled, shrugging, and looked back down at his drink. "Iunno." He lifted the glass and took a long sip, and then sighed. "He's kind and gentle like a woman. If you had sex with him, it'd be like having sex with a pretty and flat-chested girl."

 

 

 

Silence.

 

 

 

And then an _eruption_ of laughter. The table shook as Kise nearly fell over, and Midorima was hiding completely behind his hands. Kagami was nearly crying in an attempt to keep quiet, and Momoi was holding her stomach. Kuroko looked much less amused, absolutely cherry-red in the face and staring at Aomine with a look of pure homicide.

 

 

 

"That's not even how being gay works, Aomine," Midorima squeezed out from behind his hands, shaking with laughter.

 

 

 

"Eh, wait, wait, Aomine --" Kagami cut in, grinning, "If you've been imagining what sex with Kuroko is like, doesn't that make _you_ gay?"

 

 

 

The group collectively gasped. And then erupted in laughter even louder than before. Murasakibara smirked around a chopstick.

 

 

 

"I'm straight," Aomine said, "I'm straight, I'm straight! I like tits, man!"

 

 

 

"I'm leaving," Kuroko said, voice pure ice. Kagami grabbed his wrist to keep him from walking away from the table, laughing too hard to tell him to stay. There was a small tug-of-war before Kuroko finally sat back down. 

 

 

 

Kise wiped tears from his eyes. "Amazing," he breathed out.

 

 

 

"This evening has certainly been enlightening," Akashi said. 

 

 

 

"Food's here!" The waitress said, appearing with two helpers. They began dropping dishes onto the table and Kise didn't wait before jabbing at Aomine some more.

 

 

 

"Aominecchi, tell us some more fantasies. I'm so curious!"

 

 

 

"Daichan, you've never mentioned these things before. I'm almost hurt," Momoi said, nodding.

 

 

 

"Stop," Aomine barked, grabbing some food onto a small plate to occupy himself. "Shut up."

 

 

 

"Now you know how I feel, Minechin," Murasakibara said, looking far too pleased. He stacked his plate up with food, too. 

 

 

 

"I hate all of you," Aomine grumbled, and the group only laughed more.

 

 

* * *

 

Later, full of good food and drunk off good beer, they wandered to the train station. It was just after midnight and the streets were mostly quiet and were very cold. Momoi huddled close to Kagami as they entered the station behind Murasakibara, using his size as a natural shield against the biting wind. Akashi, Kise, and Midorima were not far behind. 

 

 

 

Kagami tugged on the back of Aomine's shirt to stop him from walking into the station too. 

 

 

 

Aomine glanced back at him and then looked away, going a bit red in the face. "Tetsu. Sorry."

 

 

 

"It's okay," Kuroko said. "That's what I wanted to say. That it's okay."

 

 

 

"I don't mean you look like a girl. You don't. You're, what, 5'9" now?"

 

 

 

"I'm 5'11," but yes. I understand."

 

 

 

They stood there in the quiet for a second before Aomine reached out, grabbed the top of Kuroko's head, and fluffed his hair. "Thanks, Tetsu."

 

 

 

"Let's go in before they make more jokes," Kuroko said, prying off Aomine's hand from his head. The two of them walked into the station and were met with an immediate chorus.

 

 

 

"A midnight kiss before you part! How sweet!"

 

 

 

"Was that a love confession?"

 

 

 

"I couldn't hear what you said, but it looked like you were talking about whose place to stay at!"

 

 

 

"You're stealing Mukkun's thunder, you know, with this romance!"

 

 

 

Aomine's voice cut above them all, "Shut up!"

 

 

The sound of laughter drifted out into the crisp night air, floating on the wind.


End file.
